Parlez-vous Taxonomy?

My presentation comprises of an introductory discussion and an interactive group exercise where we will learn why taxonomy is important in a WP site and how to analytically “read” and “write” information collections during a WP web project for excellent user experience results.

Taxonomy is not an organization issue. Taxonomy is a communication issue. Taxonomy is a form of human artifact, a tool for communication. Like writing, curating collections of data is a form of human expression. Like reading, using collections of data is a form of interpretation. As important as it is to create and utilize our databases, it is an equally important skill to know how to “read’ and “write” them.

In the first part of my presentation, We will discuss how a strong utilization of WP taxonomy can change your web project for the better. I will walk the group through real life examples of “poorly written” and “well written” taxonomy, and factors to think about when planning a new taxonomy for your WP site or improving an old one.

The second part of my presentation will involve our group solving a WP “taxonomy challenge”. This exercise will teach us how to create a taxonomy in WP that works for both your user and the project. We will be given an overview of a fictitious client’s current WP website and taxonomy. Based on these details we will work together using our taxonomy knowledge to improve this fictitious client’s site through the creation of an excellent taxonomy system.

Speaker

WordCamp DC is over. Check out the next edition!